Copy/translation with pre-certification/apostille 1-2 documents

Prerequisites

• It is an original or a copy of a public document from the general administration of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (FHH), e.g. registry office, customer center, tax office, state-recognized schools in Hamburg
• Your document is not earmarked.
  e.g. birth certificate (only to apply for parental allowance)
• Your document must be signed by an authorized person at FHH.
• The person signing the FHH is known to the local authorities.
• Only the services booked for the appointment can be processed or accepted.
• Do you want to be sure that your request can be processed by the appointment?
  Send an e-mail with the e-mail of the document(s) as a scan or photo as a pre-check immediately after booking your appointment. Also include your name, phone number, date and time of your appointment.
  m2511@amtfuermigration.hamburg.de . If certification for the appointment is not possible, you will be informed by e-mail or telephone!
• An apostille/pre-authentication is based on a document and not on a person, which is why a non-affected person can apply for it at the Office for Migration without a power of attorney. A written application is also possible, in which case you must provide your first and last name, your address, email, telephone number and the country for which the apostille/pre-authentication is intended.
• Payment by EC / credit card (only in exceptional cases - cash)

Documents required

Due to our current hygiene regulations, only individuals should show up for the booked appointment.

Please bring the following documents with you to the appointment:

• Appointment booking proof
• Identity document
• Your public documents in the original or copies of the free
  and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (FHH) / for the booked service
• Translations - Attention! -
  The interpreter/translator must have been sworn in in Hamburg.
  Please use the homepage to find a suitable translator for Hamburg!
  www.justiz-dolmetscher.de (specify the language and federal state here)
• EC card or credit card (cash payment only possible in exceptional cases)

IMPORTANT:
Processing at the appointment is only possible if a preliminary check has taken place. Send us an email with an attachment of your document(s) as a scan or photo.
Please also include your name, telephone number, day and time of your appointment in the subject line:
m2511@amtfuermigration.hamburg.de

Fees upon appointment:
As of: November 14, 2023
- per apostille – €13 - (fee increase to €13.50 from January 1st, 2024)
- per pre-certification – €9
- per translator stamp – €5
- Certification of copies, per first page of a document - €6
- Certification of copies, from the second page onwards €1 per subsequent page
- Copies: 1 – 10 pages each €0.60
- Copies: from the 11th page onwards €0.30 each

Fees in the written procedure (by post):
- per apostille – €32 (fee increase to €34 from January 1st, 2024)
- per pre-certification – €28 (fee increase to €29.50 from January 1st, 2024)

Payment by invoice/fee notice is only possible if the application is submitted by post.

Please note

Please note immediately after booking your appointment!
Send an e-mail with the document(s) attached as a scan or photo for a preliminary check, immediately after booking your appointment. Also include your name, phone number, date and time of your appointment. m2511@amtfuermigration.hamburg.de .

Preliminary check of the documents by the deadline - not possible -
If it was not possible to check the documents by the deadline, only the documents can be accepted. A pick-up date will be agreed after completion by the clerk.

Certified copies:
Important for final certification by the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA).
Here, the BfAA only accepts copies from the issuing authority in Hamburg or, in exceptional cases, from the Office for Migration.

Attention, if copies are made by the Office for Migration!

You must bring the originals with you to the appointment.
This includes, for example, German identity documents (e.g. identity card, passport, residence permit) or Hamburg school leaving certificates from schools/universities with state recognition in the FHH (e.g. Bachelor's certificate, Abitur certificate).

- Copies are made for international use only!

- Copies of current registers are not permitted (e.g. civil documents, registration certificates) - Please contact the issuing office!

We recommend that you have your certificate made by the issuing authority (except for German identity documents) as a copy. In exceptional cases, local authorities will also produce your copy.

After booking your appointment, please send us an e-mail with the attachment of the original or the copy of the issuing authority. The local authority will arrange for an examination to be carried out by the issuing authority in advance. A copy or placement of the apostille or pre-authentication on the copy by the local authority is only possible after confirmation by the issuing authority.

Translations - Interpreters must have been sworn in Hamburg.
Please find out in advance whether the original document must have an apostille or pre-certification before you arrange for the translation. Since the translation also has to translate the apostille or pre-authentication. A confirmation of the translation is only possible for German documents.

The Migration Office can only confirm translators who have been sworn in in Hamburg. Please use the following link to check. (Specify the federal state of Hamburg and the translation language).

Danger!
The local authority is not responsible for the following documents:

• Documents of the Hamburg courts - (The district court or district court president in Hamburg is responsible here).
• Documents under private law - e.g. power of attorney (please contact a notary in Hamburg for a notarial certification). Then go to the district court of Hamburg.
• Federal documents or final certification - e.g. for certificates of good conduct
  The Federal Office for Foreign Affairs is responsible for this.
• Translations - interpreters not sworn in Hamburg
  Please use the link to find a suitable translator in Hamburg. Enter the translation language and the federal state there.
• Documents from other states
• Foreign documents - eg marriage certificate from Denmark
  Please contact the competent authority in the issuing country.

Deadlines

Please find out about the validity of the foreign authentication (apostille/legalization) from the presenting body (embassy, authority abroad) and how old it may be.




The authorities here are not aware of the sovereign provisions of the respective country in this regard.

Procedure

• Your appointment has been booked for a service!
• Danger! -
  For the purpose of preliminary checking, send all documents as a scan or photo in an e-mail attachment! Please include the booking appointment details (names, phone number, date and time of appointment) in the subject of your email.
  Email to: m2511@amtfuermigration.hamburg.de
• If you only book "For the submission or presentation of seven documents" , only one submission is possible. A separate appointment for collection will be arranged by the clerk!
• If all the requirements (see notes / special features) for the document are met, you will immediately receive your documents for the booked service.
  (Exception: service was a deadline).
• Payment of the applicable fee(s) preferably by EC/credit card
  (Cash payment - only possible in exceptional cases!)

Processing time

In the case of a personal visit, usually up to six documents at once.




In the written procedure within Germany, it is usually processed back about ten days after it has been received by the authority.

Fees

Fees upon appointment:

As of: November 14, 2023


- per apostille – €13 (fee increase to €13.50 from January 1st, 2024)


- per pre-certification – €9


- per translator stamp – €5


- Certification of copies, per first page of a document - €6


- Certification of copies, from the second page onwards €1 per subsequent page


- Copies: 1 – 10 pages each €0.60


- Copies: from the 11th page onwards €0.30 each



Fees in the written procedure (by post):


- per apostille – €32 (fee increase to €34 from January 1st, 2024)


- per pre-certification – €28 (fee increase to €29.50 from January 1st, 2024)




Payment by invoice/fee notice is only possible if the application is submitted by post.

Payment methods available

• Girocard
• Bill
• Cash payment

Payment information

Payment by invoice / notification of fees is only possible if the application is sent by post.

Legal remedies

no

Legal basis

Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents

§ 33 (1) Hamburg Administrative Procedures Act (HmbVwVfG)

List of States to the Hague Convention

General information

If a domestic (German) public document is required for use abroad, the foreign state in which the domestic document is to be used can request a separate authentication (Hague Apostille or legalization requirement/pre-authentication) of authenticity.

The Office for Migration of the Ministry of the Interior and Sport is authorized to affix the apostille or pre-authentication to public documents that were issued by an authority of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (FHH) .

This includes public documents such as

• Civil documents from the Hamburg registry offices (e.g. birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate)
• Certificates from the tax authorities in Hamburg (e.g. certificates of residency)
• Certificates from the Hamburg district offices in Hamburg (e.g. registration certificate, acknowledgment of paternity)
• Certificates for naturalization in Hamburg (e.g. confirmation of naturalization)
  
• Creation of certified copies with apostille or pre-certification
  (Copies for national use are not made!
  Bring the originals with you to the appointment.)
  - German identity document (e.g. identity card, passport, residence permit)
  - Hamburg leaving certificates from schools with state recognition in the FHH (e.g. bachelor’s certificate, high school diploma)
  We recommend that you have your certificate made by the issuing authority for a copy. If this is not possible, please send us an email after booking your appointment, enclosing the original, as this has to be checked by the issuing authority and can mean more time.
• Certified copies of an issuing authority in Hamburg (e.g. German passport/ID card, high school diplomas or bachelor’s certificates from a state-recognized school or university in Hamburg)
• Translations - Attention! -
  The interpreter/translator must have been sworn in Hamburg.
  Please use the homepage to find a suitable translator for Hamburg!
  (Specify language and state here)

An apostille/pre-authentication is based on a document and not on a person, which is why even a non-affected person can apply for it at the Office for Migration without a power of attorney. A written application is also possible, in which case you must provide your first and last name, your address, email, telephone number and the country for which the apostille/pre-authentication is intended.

Danger!
The local authority is not responsible for the following documents:

• Documents of the Hamburg courts - (The district court or regional court president in Hamburg is responsible here).
• Documents under private law - e.g. power of attorney (please contact a notary in Hamburg for a notarial certification). Then go to the district court of Hamburg.
• Federal documents or final certification - e.g. for certificates of good conduct
  The Federal Office for Foreign Affairs is responsible for this.
• Translations - interpreters not sworn in Hamburg
  Please use the link to find a suitable translator in Hamburg. Enter the translation language and the federal state there.
• Documents from other states
• Foreign documents - eg marriage certificate from Denmark
  Please contact the competent authority in the issuing country.
• If you have any doubts about the jurisdiction of your certificate - please send an email with an attachment (photo or scan) of the document to m2511@amtfuermigration.hamburg.de .
  Please do not book an appointment until the local authority has confirmed responsibility. Thank you!